


We Can Be Us, Just For One Day

by hawkwidows



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Birthday Party, Domestic Avengers, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Steve is old, Team Bonding, Team as Family, but it doesn't end angsty, he was just protectin some skrulls, it's set after the snap angst is unavoidable, no specified ships in this one, oh yeah clint never had a family, putting the focus on strong friendships bc i love them all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 03:09:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18541084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawkwidows/pseuds/hawkwidows
Summary: Steve had accepted that, now out of the ice, he'd live to see his 100th birthday.The other Avengers had always been excited to celebrate it when it happened.But it was never meant to happen like this. Not under these circumstances.Luckily, they're a team, and they don't go back on their word.(UPDATE: I've seen Endgame - this is still my canon pleathe)





	We Can Be Us, Just For One Day

**Author's Note:**

> This was a loooong time coming, I never intended to finish this so close to Endgame - but here we are!
> 
> The domestic 100th birthday fic bc Steve canonically turned 100!
> 
> Thank you so much to Em (@emswifts on twitter) for being my beta and Nat (@redledgerr on twitter) for always hyping me up and being the reason I wanted to write this! I put a lot of love into this, because I love these characters so I hope you have fun with it!
> 
> Timeline:  
> Set post-Infinity War, I'd say about... 4 months after?

**healing**  
**_/ˈhiːlɪŋ/_**  
_noun_  
noun: **healing**  
1.  
the process of making or becoming sound or healthy again.

 

“Normal” has never been a word to associate this team with. But, all things considered over the past few months, life around the Avengers Compound _was_ feeling pretty normal again by some standards.

They were finally back to eating properly - for the most part - which was reassuring for everybody. Although unbeknownst to him, the rest of the group kept an eye out for Thor who still hadn’t gone back to his usual ungodly - or technically godly - food intake. That in itself was already hard with food supplies literally halved and solutions still being figured out by major governments. 

Vigorous training seemed to be the unspoken agreed upon outlet for any pent-up anger and guilt after their encounter with Thanos. But out of every aspect of daily life, sleep schedules were still the most out of whack, more so than what they used to be. 

Nightmares were far from few and nights would vary from stray team members passing each other in the hall with an understanding nod, to finding a quiet place in the compound and having a heart to heart until the sun peeked over the horizon. 

Healing was a process, and the Avengers were still scraping their way through it.

And it was late one morning that Clint noticed his partner sitting alone, looking as small as ever on one of the terraces outside Training Room C.

He abandoned his gear and made his way to Natasha, leaning with his back on the rail and facing her. He remained silent long enough for her to give in and acknowledge him. 

“You found me.” Natasha kept her gaze on the mostly-dead greenery over the barrier.

“Yeah well,” Clint moved to join her on the bench she’d settled on, wincing at the contact with the cool steel, and stared out past the tree lines surrounding the compound. “You found me, remember?” 

Natasha’s face softened at the memory. The journey from recognising the eyes of the hooded figure on the monitors in the meeting room, to finding said figure in a street in Japan, watching him face her after putting his own hell to an end with the Yakuza; it all felt like a lifetime ago.

She gave him a small smile. 

“That was a pretty advanced game of hide and seek you know, thanks for the headache.” 

“Sorry.” 

At his genuine tone, Natasha turned and regarded him seriously. “Don’t be. None of it was your fault.” 

She went quiet again.  
Clint knocked his knee with hers. “Tasha...” 

The weight in her whispered name always meant a million things. Now, it meant _we can’t bottle our shit up_ , it meant _if you lock it in, you lock me out_. 

“I was just thinking, really. He’s kept it quiet, but we all know Steve turns a hundred in a few days, and Sam…” 

She took a deep breath in, looking down from the yellowed field in front of her that was suddenly resembling the Wakandan forests a little too much.

“When we were on the run, after Germany and the Accords, we had a lot of downtime. Steve made a passing comment about almost being a hundred years old and Sam and I both immediately had the same thought. When Steve wasn’t around we started planning ahead for things we could do to celebrate, something to make the day special. It wasn’t much. We didn’t know where we’d be, and he was convinced it’d be just the three of us. I don’t know why I believed the team would make up by then, but I did. But now he’s gone. And half our friends - half of every damn thing - is gone and it doesn’t feel right. None of this is right-”

Natasha broke off on her final sentence. Clint wrapped an arm around her, pulling her in close as she collected herself. 

“I just don’t want everything we used to do from now on to have that sad undertone, for anyone...” She’d spent time thinking about this before. 

While Natasha would often push distracting thoughts to the corners of her mind, she couldn’t lie that the painful idea of billions of people around the world learning to move on with even _less_ information about what happened than she fortunately had, slipped through quite often.

She concentrated on Clint’s thumb rubbing soothing patterns up and down her side. He blew out a long breath. 

“A few years ago we wouldn’t have believed something like this was even possible. And ’m sorry I wasn’t there fighting with you guys, Nat. But we’re gonna fix this, we will.”

“There’s just-“ Natasha’s response was cut short as the pair heard quick but heavy footsteps retreating behind them. 

They whipped their heads in sync to the door of the smaller training room they were outside of, just missing a glimpse of who had been around.

Clint shrugged and turned back after a moment. “Race you to the sparring mats.”

-  
Eventually Natasha and Clint made their way out of the training block and into the communal building, beelining for the sound of multiple voices raising in the second level kitchen.

“No, Tony.”  
“Yes, Cap.”  
“Steve, we want to do this for you.”  
“Nat seemed to care a great deal about doing it.”

“About doing what?”  
Tony, Steve, Bruce and Thor all jumped slightly at the sound of the new voice in the room. 

Even after these few years the other men still found themselves surprised by their teammates who didn’t seem to have any footsteps. 

Clint casually left Natasha’s side to dispense water from the fridge as her eyes squinted curiously over her team. Tony winked right at her, stealing a biscuit from Bruce’s plate and spoke up.

“Oh, Point Break just mentioned he saw you crying in Barton’s arms because the ol’ Captain’s turning a hundred.” He explained with perfectly put on innocence. 

Thor sat up straighter in his seat at the island, almost knocking his bowl of oatmeal over in shock as he gaped incredulously at Tony.

“I didn’t-“ he waved his hands dismissively and smiled sweetly at Natasha, hoping to calm the glare beginning to bore into his soul, “I didn’t say it like that... no. No, I just brought up how I didn’t know Steve was reaching a milestone in what is the depressingly short lifespan of humans and how you had plans for it!” 

_That explains the footsteps_ Clint thought, handing Natasha a glass of water.

“And I was trying to explain how, as much as I’d appreciate it, now doesn’t feel like the right time to celebrate.” The birthday boy in question replied, trying to push the attention away from him. 

Natasha tried not to let the sinking feeling show. 

_Sam would’ve been able to convince him_ , she thought. The team fell silent for a moment, not knowing how to respond to Steve’s dismissal. 

Tony tapped his fingers rhythmically on the caesarstone, brows furrowed in thought.

“Then when will it be, hm? The _right_ time? We’ve been trying to get through this, together; but what’s the point of wanting to move forward if we’re never going to let ourselves actually do it?”

Steve shook his head, unconvinced. “Tony, you almost died.” 

“Exactly! We all almost did - again.” 

Bruce gave Tony a look reminiscent of Rhodey’s _stop downplaying your trauma_ face. 

“So maybe I ran out of oxygen in space we don’t need to revisit that right now, my point is - I made it home. So did Barton. And I know I’ve definitely made a recovery, and all of you troublemakers have been cleared by Dr Cho for training and other activities, so we’re all getting there. Even Thor’s able to come and start a conversation now.” He contested, gesturing to the Asgardian who had slumped back in his seat, shrugging in agreement as he scarfed another spoonful of oatmeal into his mouth. 

It was true that Thor had gone through hell and back in the lead up to Thanos, and his not speaking didn’t come as big of a surprise as it might’ve before the Decimation, but they were grateful his playfulness was showing again. Bruce especially noticed the quiet.

“Tony’s right. I-I lost some people, but you guys...” Bruce hesitated, rolling his hands together, gazing up at Thor carefully, “you guys took a hit.” 

Thor held his eyes on the scientist, recognising the urge to want to make things right staring back at him. 

“And yeah, maybe we don’t deserve it. That’s what we’re getting at here, right? That we can’t celebrate because we shouldn’t?” He had the attention of everyone in the kitchen now. 

“I wouldn’t call it selfish to want to feel happy just for one night, it would help us in the long run, mentally. We all need a reason to get out of here and recharge on motivation. We should do it.” 

Clint enthusiastically slapped a hand over his own heart, so loud the doctor felt himself wake up a little more. “That was beautiful Bruce.” 

Steve’s eyes had gained a twinkle listening to his team, but there was still a hint of hesitation. He looked towards the Asgardian. 

“Thor? How would you feel if..” 

He trailed off as Thor reached beside him to squeeze one of his shoulders with his hand.

“Your journey is one that deserves to be celebrated. I’m actually quite excited about this.” He replied, genuinely. Steve nodded at his response, and stared back at his teammates. 

“Alright. On one condition.” 

“Name it.” 

“No Stark-level surprises or gifts? Just this once.” 

Natasha cut in before the visibly wounded Tony could.

“Done.”

-  
“Come on Natasha, I already know the party’s happening, you’re really not going to let me help out with anything?” Steve stood with his hands on his hips, watching her furiously scribble something down in her notebook. 

It looked untidy, which Natasha’s penmanship wasn’t - he was pretty sure she was purposely writing in a language he couldn’t understand just to mess with him. 

He’d been left out of his own party planning for the past couple days which, he figured he understood, but he didn’t like the feeling of feeling useless.

“No.” She replied simply without looking up. “But we leave in 40. Make sure your bags are on the quinjet in 20.” Steve shook his head with a small smile and left for his room.

-  
It was hitting afternoon by the time they were flying above the clouds. The team was piled into two quinjets, and with the ride going smoothly and an ETA of only about an hour; Steve felt like it was a good sign that this wasn’t such a bad idea. 

Scott Lang and Helen Cho were along for the trip, as were Rhodey and Pepper. He was grateful that the latter two had accepted the invitation. 

Rhodey and Pepper hadn’t known about the fight in Siberia, but after Thanos? After Tony survived being stabbed and stuck in _space_ by some miracle? Steve knew he couldn’t keep that incident with him forever. 

Tony had left out particular details when they decided to explain to the team a couple months ago why guilt was dripping off of Steve like a candle burning out. 

Their situation now was more crucial than a fight that had happened years before - and Rhodey and Pepper’s trust in Steve was being earnt back, but Steve was more than okay with doing so. He may have been their friend, but they definitely considered Tony family. 

Carol Danvers, who’d introduced herself as an old friend of Fury’s; had been eager to come along and properly bond with his new team that’d been named after her.

Tony and Thor, having spent the most time with them, had offered their other newest allies Nebula and Rocket to come celebrate with the team, but they had declined - with a spaceship almost intact again they needed to continue investigating the whereabouts of Thanos immediately. 

Rocket had explained, with unreadable calmness, that he understood wanting to spend time together, which the others appreciated. 

Fading out of his thoughts Steve noticed he still didn’t know where they were, they’d flown south west he was sure of it... 

Judging by the forestry around the clearing they were about to land in, and the crispness of the air once they did, they could still be somewhere in New York. 

A short walk through a path in the trees carrying various containers, bags and equipment led them to their home for the night. They all pushed through the treeline and took in the view. 

A comfortably sized wooden cabin, with slanted roofs and its features naturally aged by the weather, sat snugly in the middle of a lush grass clearing; a safe distance from the cliff in front of it. 

The cliff, a flat plane bordered by tall pine trees; overlooked a vast expanse of the forest down below and mountains that bled into the horizon. 

“Is that.. running water?” Scott asked, craning his neck to find the source of the noise. 

Natasha gave him a smug smile and motioned for the group to follow her. A few more steps and they came into view of a carved out stone staircase leading to a small waterfall at one of the curves in the mountain. 

“That’s amazing! I wondered why you told us to pack swimsuits when we landed in the middle of a secluded forest!” Pepper gripped Tony’s arm in excitement and he laughed lightly as they all headed to the actual cabin.

“So _this_ , is the kind of get up S.H.I.E.L.D. granted you two?” Tony hounded Clint as they reached the sliding front door. “You always described safe houses as if you roughed it in a closet sized bunker.”

“Oh we did. This cabin came out of Nat’s own pocket, it was off books.” Clint explained, shifting bags so he could type in the code for the door. 

“We both have a couple of spots that Fury doesn- didn’t... know about, that we get to decorate and call our own.” The door opened with a soft _whoosh_ , and the team began to shuffle inside.

The inside of the cabin was spacious. It was one story, but with higher ceilings and a mostly open plan apart from the bathrooms and bedroom. The kitchen and dining area were on an elevated level, a couple stairs separate from the rest of the cabin. The charcoal wooden panelling paired with the long glass windows kept the place looking sleek and modern. It smelt of sawdust and pine. 

But the most interesting of all, was that Natasha Romanoff, who would not usually be crowned _Most Likely To Splurge On A House With Multiple Visible Windows_ , was its owner. 

“Alright, set up wherever you like - except the bedroom, we might have to bunch up but at least we’ll be warm.” There was a chorus of thuds as the heroes all dropped the weight off their backs and began to work out sleeping situations. 

Steve came up to stand next to Natasha in the doorway, his shoulders visibly losing tension. 

“Thank you, Nat. This is… already more than I could’ve asked for.” 

She threw her bag onto one of the couches, tossing her hand in mock salute.

“The night’s still young Rogers, we’re just getting started.” 

-  
The cabin was roaring with life: Rhodey and Pepper were prepping side dishes in the kitchen, Natasha approaching to offer help where she could after helping Carol decorate the place. Bruce, Thor and Helen were busy making the sleeping space as comfortable as possible and Clint had the barbecue going out on the fenced patio, kept company by Scott who was settling well into the team. 

Blue lanterns had been strung up inside, warm fairy lights ran above the length of the dining table which was dressed with an arrangement of blue flowers. The soft sounds of Marvin Gaye’s music coming from a speaker inside was keeping Sam’s spirit thriving. 

Steve had his back to the house, staring past the wooden posts and over the cliff when Tony came up next to him with two drinks in hand.

“Well it’s no Stark trademark bash but, I’m feeling good. You?” He said, offering Steve a glass of the mead Thor stocked that could actually give him a buzz - which he accepted happily.

“Honestly? More relaxed than I’ve felt in _years_.” Steve admitted. Tony inhaled deeply, nodding in agreement. 

“Guess we were all feeling that cabin fever. Which is funny, because I helped design that facility to be as little cramped as possible.” 

“Well, I don’t think it was physical claustrophobia...” 

“You know I’ve got the Stark Relief teams in third world countries. And I’ve seen that governments elsewhere are actually doing something now that they’re halved.” Tony scoffed but then fell serious again. “People _are_ getting looked after.”

“I know. It’s just hard to accept that I’m allowed to have this, others are moving on so why can’t I try…”

Steve paused for a moment, wanting to switch gears and not dwell just for one night. 

“But apparently Natasha’s still full of surprises. I did _not_ expect a place so… exposed from her.” 

If Tony noticed the poorly shifted tone of conversation, he didn’t show it. “You know, it makes me wonder what the hell else our two resident ex-spies have in hiding.” 

Both men turned their attention to the barbecue, where Clint was currently in passionate conversation with Scott about what sounded like mandatory karaoke songs.

“Hey Barton! If Romanoff’s got the cabin in the woods, does that leave you with the little house on the prairie?”

Clint made a face as he turned over the last of the steaks. “Hell no, you know I grew up in Iowa. I know how to maintain a farm, doesn’t mean I wanna live on one. But if you ever need an apartment above a local Thai restaurant, I’m your man.”

Steve chuckled at that, it was on the nose for the archer. He returned his attention to Tony, spending the next few minutes in comfortable conversation until Rhodey yelled out for their “lazy asses” to help he and Carol set the table outside.

-  
“Look if you really wanna twin with the mohawk, I’m kinda drunk and I packed clippers so it’s the perfect time.”

“No!”

Laughter erupted around the table as cutlery slowly piled onto plates. The dinner had everyone feeling stuffed in the best way possible, it was like a physical satisfaction they’d been lacking for a while now. 

They were in the middle of thanking the teammates who’d prepared the meal just as Helen sneezed.

“Oh, do you need a tissue?” Scott asked, swiftly pulling a white handkerchief from the inside of his palm as if he’d been waiting the entire time for someone to sneeze. “Here you go!” 

Tony and Natasha immediately tried to stop the giggle that almost pushed its way out of their throats when Helen accepted it, but Rhodey was the first to laugh.

“Close up? I didn’t know you were into that sort of thing Lang!”

“Two years under house arrest will do that to you. I did so much in that time and had no one to discuss things with! Like, have any of you ever read The Fault In Our Sta-”

“How did you do that?” All heads turned to look at Thor, whose eyes were locked on Scott’s hands with a scarily serious expression. 

Thor had seen enough of Earth to no longer be the lost Asgardian he’d originally been, but judging by the rosiness in his cheeks, the mead was clearly getting to him. 

“How as in, as a human. You don’t possess magical abilities in a biological sense _and_ you don’t even have sleeves on your shirt.” 

Poorly hid smiles were popping up around the group as Thor pointed accusingly. Scott chuckled nervously as the demi-god leaned closer. “Listen man-”

“No, Scott can just do that.” Tony interrupted. 

“Right, like a medical condition.” Carol managed to snort out with a terrible stern expression, making everyone begin to laugh again.

Scott motioned for the team to settle down and showed Thor his hands, face completely serious before reaching to his other palm and pulling another white handkerchief from his thumb. 

Everyone clapped as if it were a spectacle but Thor remained skeptical with his narrowed expression.

“Whatever, it must be a trick of some kind.”

Clint barked out a laugh from where he’d moved to the grass. “See! That’s what it feels like!”

As the conversation shifted, Scott winked at Steve as he discreetly removed the fake thumbs and put them in his pocket.

-  
So far the calm party had been everything Steve needed. He didn’t mind the big parties the Avengers were often invited to, but this - relaxing with people he was comfortable around, getting out of his head even just for a while - was enough. 

Even the cake (a gift from the chaotic combination of Thor, Helen and Scott), accompanied by the ‘happy birthday’ melody he agreed was the worst moment of any celebration, had been a nice part of the night. 

Then again that probably lay with the fact the singing was intoxicated. It had made Steve smile, which he supposed distracted from the awkwardness of not being able to join in on his own song. 

But the calm was soon over when a duffel bag got all but dumped at his feet. “Present time!” 

When Steve had agreed to let his teammates throw him a party he had made it clear he didn’t want anything over the top - and that included presents. 

He was fine without them but he knew that wouldn’t stop the group from joining up in getting things. When the Avengers had just been a team of six, gift giving extended into something they realised they enjoyed doing when birthdays came around. 

For some of them back then, it’d been a while since they felt that normalcy. And despite being scattered across galaxies the past few years, that sentimentality was apparently still very much there.

Eager eyes waited for him to unwrap the few parcels, and he pulled the first one that stuck out to him - a medium sized, almost flat white box with a navy ribbon snugly tied across it. 

Steve opened it and before he could see what was under the tissue paper he stopped to pick up the small card on top. “Tony, Rhodey and Pepper.” He glanced half nervously at the trio and took off the paper. 

Steve held up what he now knew to be a framed canvas, an incredible oil painting scene of the Aurora Borealis phenomenon. A low whistle came from over of the couch “Which robot painted that one Tony?” came Clint’s voice.

Steve’s excitement took over before Tony could return fire. 

“No, no this is a Bob Ross. Well, a replica obviously.” 

“Original.”

Steve turned to face Rhodey, his brows practically hitting his hairline, before eyeing the grinning mechanic on the arm of the couch. 

“ _Tony_.” 

“Ah ah! It wasn’t as expensive as you might think.” 

“I actually saw it at a meeting in a PBS studio a couple of years ago with Rhodey. And when I told Tony he insisted we get it, for you.” Pepper explained, a soft but definitely genuine smile at her lips.

Steve lifted his second hand up to grip the frame as if it had just become the most precious object in the world - and technically it was. He couldn’t believe he was holding an original from the artist he’d grown to admire. “ _Thank_ you. Very much Pepper, the three of you.” 

Steve placed the frame back in its box and picked up the next gift. A smaller, silver box clearly from a high end jeweller, big enough for a necklace. Steve was incredibly curious as he opened it up and…

He lowered his head into his hands.

“Who the hell...”

When he began laughing into his palms, Natasha swiped the box from his hands to end everyone’s curiosity. The most devilish grin took over her face as the words left her mouth. 

“It’s Life Alert!”

The box came without a card, so Natasha scanned everyone’s faces looking for the culprit. 

Everyone was either cracking up or trying to hold it in, except for Bruce who was failing miserably at innocently laughing behind his teacup. When he caught her eye Natasha immediately reached out for a giant high five. 

“You’re a _genius_ Banner. I wish I’d thought of that.”

Bruce reached out to give Steve a friendly hug around the shoulders. “Maybe it’ll encourage you to ask for help, Helen and I don’t need another Clint bleeding out on our tables constantly.” 

“I’m never using this, you know that.” Steve smiled widely back at him, Bruce gave his chest a pat and sat back on the couch. “Alright next one!”

A regular sized box, that when he picked up, immediately rattled around. The small square card on the tape labelled “To The Other Captain :)”. He smiled at that, opening the paper eagerly to reveal a Star Wars LEGO Starfighter pack. 

“I’m still kinda catching up on what people like in this decade,” Carol shrugged casually, “but who can go wrong with some LEGO?” 

“Thank you Carol, I’ve actually made a bunch of these with Clint.” Steve replied. Scott stared at the exchange for a moment, debating speaking, before the words tumbled out of his mouth anyway.

“He can’t play with that.” 

Carol turned to him immediately, wondering why her gift would be shut down. Steve watched him expectantly. “Lang?”

“LEGO is ages 4-99!” 

Everyone took a second to process Scott’s words. 

“Oh my god, oh my god Cap, you _can’t play with LEGOs anymore_.” An intoxicated Tony almost fell off the armrest he was perched on. Carol pushed him back to sitting position before he fell into her, trying to hold in her own laughter.

“I can’t believe I missed that!” 

“Sorry Cap, guess I’m making this with the new stronger Cap!” Clint reached over to clink his beer with Carol’s. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Steve felt Natasha rub his back pitifully as he waved off the banter by eagerly going for the second last present in the duffel.

It hadn’t been wrapped, but had been covered by the other gifts so far. It was from Natasha and Clint, a “Happy 10th Birthday” card with an extra zero drawn on in sharpie sat on top of it. Steve chuckled to himself before he stopped abruptly.

“No fucking way.” Steve held up a glass jar of hard boiled sweets - Humbugs, he’d recognised them immediately. A whole jar that could last him months, he was practically drooling from the whiff of peppermint. 

“Never had these growing up, even if they were in America we wouldn’t have been able to afford them. Peggy actually brought us a jar of them to brighten our spirits, the Commandos couldn’t get enough!” 

His eyes were lit up at the memory, and Clint shifted as if uncomfortable before speaking.

“Sharon was going to surprise you. We flew to get it, but we planned it when the three of us went out one night so, this is from her too.” Clint didn’t want to dull the mood, but Steve deserved to know. 

But Steve smiled gratefully at the duo despite the fact he was holding his breath - which he wasn’t aware he had been doing - clutching the jar carefully. “I appreciate it, very much.” 

Natasha smiled warmly, dipping her hand into the duffel to retrieve the final gift.

“Now this,” She began, gripping the brown leather of what seemed to be a binded book, “this is from Sam. And Bucky.” 

Steve quietly sucked in a breath with pursed lips at the mention of the two names. 

When he straightened up, she took the signal and held the book out to him, and he accepted it slowly. 

The air in the room had shifted, Steve assuming most if not all the others knew what was inside. He unbound the string and opened the cover.

The first page was a letter from Sam about the album.

_Steve,_  
_I’m writing this from the quinjet. We’re on our way to Wakanda. You’re behind me talking to Vision (I’m still getting used to that dude, don’t tell him I said that!). There’s a lot of uncertainty here about what we’re doing, but one thing I’m sure about is that for 100 years you’ve fought the good fight, and I still pinch myself every damn day when I remember I’m on the same team as you. I admired you, but hanging out with you made me realise how big a pain in the ass you really are and how fake that “good boy” shit is... I get now why Barnes is always fucking looking out for you!_  
_But seriously, you’re about to make it to 100, a few months to go. Not everyone gets to do that, so congratulations. I haven’t been around you as long as others, but I was always grateful you chose this hot piece of ass to stalk in DC. You made me an Avenger, Steve. I can’t ever beat that but - this album is for you to reflect on when those PTSD demons we talk about get to you again and you need a reminder of the team you’ve got watching your back._  
_I don’t know why I’m writing this now, when we’re gonna kick some alien ass and I’ll get to hand it to you in person but, sometimes your gut tells you it’s better to get things done early._  
_Happy Birthday, Captain._  
_-Falcon_

Steve took a minute to process, suddenly feeling numb. He knew the team was trying not to watch him, as if intruding on a private moment, so they chatted amongst themselves softly for a moment. He collected himself and kept reading.

Part of Steve was expecting a long message from Bucky too, he wanted to hear his voice in his head again, but as he turned the page, he came across a crappy doodle of two smiling bears. One with a Captain America suit on, and one with a metal arm that had been left abruptly. 

Bucky never got to finish. 

He was already emotional from Sam’s note, but paired with the familiar doodle updated from the one in his sketchbook from 1944, Steve could feel his eyes getting wet.

Who knows when Sam finally got the album to Bucky, it must’ve been when he was strategising with T’Challa… just before the outriders entered the atmosphere and hell broke loose. Even with a war on its way those two jerks managed to get this done. 

When a stray tear threatened to slip down his cheek, Steve quickly coughed to ease it away as he began to flip through the pages.

There were pieces of Bucky’s journal, rewritten after gaining his memory back, enough entries of the word “punk” scribbled near photos of Steve to last him another lifetime. Selfies of Steve, Sam and an occasionally reluctant Natasha where Steve’s head had barely made it in. A candid photo of he and Tony sharing the same bored look at a press conference, ‘ _same coin_ ’ written in Natasha’s handwriting over it. The iconic photo Clint had taken years ago when Thor missed a step at the tower while in his armour because his longer hair got in the way. (Steve briefly heard Carol’s laugh behind him as she saw that photo). Another candid of Steve and Bruce laughing over a game of checkers. A photo from the day at the beach where Tony had challenged Clint and Natasha to a piggyback race with him on Rhodey’s back.

There were pages of candids and posed photos, photos of landscapes from places they’d visited on the run, all taken by Sam - even several photos of just Steve. Sam had always been the welcome photographer of the team, and it made Steve’s chest seize up thinking back to the good times the Avengers had shared before the world went to shit. 

He closed the album and thanked everyone around him, noticing a couple pairs of glassy eyes that reflected his own.

After the presents, the group migrated back into the cabin, away from the wind that had picked up as they brought everything inside. Flopping onto couches, sleeping bags and whatever else they could find, they all settled back into conversation.

“There is!” Tony announced to the room, getting the attention of everyone while waving a finger in the air. 

“One… more thing Sam had requested for this special evening, with help from our host. We’ve brought a video.”

Natasha pressed a button on a remote that seemed to come from thin air, and the tv switched on to a media player.

“Is this going to be one of those PowerPoints with nice photos and an emotional song because if it is, I may actually need a real drink.” He leant his head back, weary of the slumbering Thor on his shoulder. 

“Oh Bruce, who do you think we are?” Natasha quipped back before pressing play.

Steve realised within the first few seconds. He could make out the stage through the grainy footage before the music even began.

_...Who’s strong and brave, here to save the American Way?_

“Wait. Jesus, Tony, is this the very first performance?”

“I don’t know Cap, you tell me? You really should’ve gotten an Oscar for the delivery of these lines.”

A loud _HA!_ had all eyes whipping to the world-renowned geneticist sprawled out on the couch. Helen was trying (and failing) to suppress a giggle fit. 

“I’m so sorry. But, he has the dialogue written on the shield, this is incredible.”

Steve hung his head and they went back to watching, the first clip played through with a number of snorts and a million more questions. 

He knew his team knew about the USO gigs, hell they had posters of him from the war hung up at the compound, but Steve’s face was still flushing bright red with embarrassment. The damned mead...

A second clip, Steve’s final ever performance, began almost immediately after the first one ended. Some were familiar with this version of the footage. But the contrast between the two had a lot of the team getting wide eyed. 

The stage was far more epic. Fake Hitler getting punched got a loud whoop from everyone in the cabin along with the audience in the video. When Steve lifted the motorcycle carrying some of the Star Spangled Singers, hands went into the air, cheering. 

Steve at least felt better about this one. The clip finally finished and the team were left to absorb what they’d seen for a second. Tony’s stray chuckle was the first outward reaction.

“Fuck, that was catchy.”

“I can’t believe we’d never actually watched that first one, how did that never come up over the years?” Rhodey was almost offended it had been kept from him. It was gold.

Steve gave him a look that read _you know why_. Carol couldn’t believe the bigger picture was being missed.

“Okay, okay, but, I can’t be the only one wondering when we get to recreate that motorcycle stunt. For team bonding purposes?”

They really should be shutting the idea down, but instead the Avengers found themselves planning out their next training session once they get back to HQ.

-  
Slowly the cabin started feeling a come down, a collective agreement to thank Natasha for her space by cleaning up the patio and packing down the kitchen area so they didn’t regret not doing so in the morning. By the time that was done, most of the group were pulling out blankets and piling on pillows back in the lounge area, while others continued to have a drink here and there.

Scott was just coming out of the bathroom as he glanced at the clock.

“Oh hey, three minutes til midnight gu-” He was cut off by the first _bang_. 

It was in the distance, but loud enough that it still slammed the whole team into immediate silence. A few of them jumped, Thor immediately woke up at the movement and Bruce grabbed his wrist once he saw sparks at his fingers, but most tensed in defence.

“It wasn’t a gun.” Natasha reassured a suddenly cautious Pepper, a hand gently resting on her shoulder. She turned to the other woman expectantly. 

“Well you know how normal guns sound, it can’t be one of those, they don’t pop that happily.” Natasha explained. 

“But…” Clint chimed in, getting up as Rhodey did to lift the blinds, as a second _bang_ went off. With the open windows, the room lit up with multi-colours as the sky was painted with bright patterns. 

“Fireworks do.” 

Tony huffed a tired laugh from his spot on the ground, rolling his eyes. 

“Jesus Christ. Happy fucking fourth of July, five minutes early. Who does that?” Pepper pet his arm gently as she accepted a hand up from the beanbag from Carol. 

Natasha came to stand by Steve.

“You alright? I didn’t check for others being down there, I should’ve thought about that possibility given the date.” 

Steve had to admit his heart was racing, and for a split second he was back in every war he’d ever fought; but the apologetic look on her face made him not want to put another burden on her. 

“Sounds like you’re slipping, Romanoff. But I’m fine. Everyone else okay?” 

The general response was “yeah” as the group shuffled quickly over to the patio to watch the display.

They watched until it hit midnight, the view from their cliff making the fireworks appear at eye level, as if set off just for them. 

It was mesmerising, the colours were incredible. For a couple of minutes they all stayed in that peaceful trance.. They cheered a happy birthday as the 4th struck over and all went back to mingling.

There had been points in the night Steve forgot it was his own birthday they were celebrating; he’d been too busy appreciating the company. 

The past few months were a mess of tears and guilt and every negative emotion he could think of stuffed into one. Up until a few days ago he was sure happiness wasn’t something he could feel for more than a few minutes in a day anymore. 

He knew this trip was fleeting, but he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to soak it all up, and make sure his entire team took some joy with them too.

So he sat there, just listening for a moment.

Natasha, Carol, Pepper and Helen had been discussing Helen’s advancements in her tech and how it differed to Kree tech, before the conversation lulled and Natasha turned to Carol.

“I know it hasn’t been very long yet, but how are you finding the team?”

“Oh it’s a mess. But I have a feeling that’s how you guys work best, so I’m into it.” Helen giggled hearing Carol’s admission.

“It will never stop being a mess, I promise you that. But I much prefer being on the ground to help out than out there, so it’s good that they have you now too.” 

Before Natasha could respond, she felt her cheek roughly meet Thor’s chest as he slung a drowsy arm over her shoulder. 

Carol squinted at Natasha, noticing a normally refined person like Romanoff didn’t push her friend away after the forced affection.

“Unfortunately this is normal.”

Thor smiled widely at Carol. “I felt out of place to begin with too, but you’re from here, I’m sure you’re already finding it easier to settle in than I did.”

Steve chose that moment to slip back in. “I told you about how I lost seventy years. We were all a little lost at some point, so you’re not alone there.” He offered. Scott leant back in his chair to join in.

“I hung out with them _once_ and got put back in jail, so… I’d be careful.” Carol shook her head amusedly, god this was really her team now.

The conversation came to a halt as the sound of David Bowie beginning to play slowly filled their ears. 

“Oh, I love this song!” Pepper squeaked out, her tipsiness showing. 

Clint came out onto the patio, having been the one to get the music going. He held out his hand to Pepper in invitation; a small, friendly smile on his face. 

She accepted it gladly, picking Rhodey up along the way. Carol rested a hand on Tony’s shoulder, bringing him out of his head. She jerked her own head sideways at him, a playful smirk on her face. Tony set his glass down and followed Carol to the forming dance floor, bopping his head along to the beat. Scott bounded over to Clint, naturally becoming the air drums to the archer’s air guitar. Thor pulled Natasha along swiftly, the drinks in her smaller body making her laugh louder than usual. She grasped Helen’s arm as they passed her, encouraging her to come and dance.

It was Bruce who made his way to Steve, standing over him expectantly. The captain shook his head, a large smile creeping onto his face. He forced himself up from the chair at the table, and strode over with Bruce to the rest of the team. 

Dancing was never Steve’s strong suit, but it wasn’t for most of them anyway. 

Maybe it was the abnormal mixture of alcohols, or maybe it was the desperation to feel normal again; but the team shoved aside any reservations they were feeling; how silly they, as adults, all probably looked under the fairy lights and the glow of the moon.

“I, I will be king!” Scott shouted along to the song, voice reaching out past the cliff.

Thor spun Helen around, he hadn’t heard this song before but it was pleasant. He said as much to her before swaying along with Bruce and Pepper.

_And you, you will be queen_

Natasha held Tony and Clint’s hands and swung them side to side, laughing with them.

_Though nothing, will drive them away_

Carol sung into her fist, holding out the pretend microphone to Rhodey.

_We can be heroes, just for one day_

Steve glanced around at his team, now believing that they were going to get through this. They were stronger together, and they would avenge the fallen together.

It was what heroes did.

_We can be us, just for one day._

**Author's Note:**

> _Though nothing, will keep us together_   
>  _We could steal time, just for one day_   
>  _We can be heroes, forever and ever_   
>  _What d'you say?_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you for reading! let me know what you thought, or just leave some kudos!!
> 
> I so badly wanted to include Nebula and Rocket, but I'm still new to this fic writing thing and it was a lot of characters to handle ahH
> 
> Find me on twitter @carolwasps :)


End file.
